From the Dust jacket: "This book is a boldly original approach to the complex and obscure problems of the Egyptian administration during the latter part of the Pyramid Age, from about 2500 to about 2250 B.C. Mr. Baer sustains a theory that the titles that were written on the walls of tombs and monuments were arranged in descending order of rank according to an officially established system of ranking which was universally used at a given period and altered from time to time."

The book's focus:

Administrative structure: The work examines how the government was organized during ancient Egypt's 5th and 6th dynasties.

Social and political hierarchy: It analyzes the hierarchy of administrative titles to understand the social ranking of officials.

Sources: Baer's research is based on textual evidence from ancient Egyptian documents.